[Archived] THE BATTLE FOR PROMOTION....WON.

[JHRover]

Imperative that we beat Gillingham now. The other two keep on going, so we need to. Failure to get maximum on Saturday will leave it right in Wigan's hands and the way Shrewsbury keep going we certainly can't rely on them dropping.

[DE.]

Just now, had.e.nuff said:

I can see a side finishing 3rd with a record number of points

Unless one of us, Wigan or Shrewsbury collapse in the next ten or so games it seems inevitable. 

[HowieFive0]

Just now, JHRover said:

Imperative that we beat Gillingham now. The other two keep on going, so we need to. Failure to get maximum on Saturday will leave it right in Wigan's hands and the way Shrewsbury keep going we certainly can't rely on them dropping.

Wigan ..WDDWLL..hardly emphatic 

[barry_]

I had been for a walk, looking at the game on BBC... got in at 89 mins refreshing the phone and right in front of my eyes the score changed to 0 1

ugggggghh ?

[West Yorks Rover]

Well I suppose if we win on Saturday, we will be back to 8 points ahead and they'll have 4 in hand again, but 1 game less to drop points.

[Stuart]

Just now, Tom said:

Feels like a huge moment, a point would have left them with no room to slip up.

As it is they’ve just overcome what looks like their biggest challenge and will feel confident of taking over 

I’ve never doubted Wigan will finish top. The two points dropped against them gave the initiative to them. My worry has always been Shrewsbury.

Our bad start cost us and we’ve done really well to get back into in but we are now under pressure to keep winnng.

It’s us with no room to slip up.

[barry_]

a season of 'what ifs' because TM bottled it.

[HowieFive0]

Just now, barry_ said:

a season of 'what ifs' because TM bottled it.

Give over man ...Wigan have picked up just 8 points in 18...anyone would think the season was over with your statement!

[DE.]

Our only saving grace as far as Wigan are concerned is their fixture pile up, which could cause them to stumble. On the other hand, it's not been difficult for Wigan to beat most of the teams in this league at 100% so they should still be able to do so, even if they're at 80%-90%, particularly as some of these teams may be in beach mode by the time Wigan play them. 

Seems like it's going to come down to us and Shrewsbury, and if so then us taking 4 points from 6 against them could become quite important. Worth remembering we got an 85th min equaliser at their place to end the match 1-1. They'd be two points closer to us right now if not for that. Dack was the scorer, of course.

[47er]

What a bloody sickener!

[tomphil]

Never ever write that lot off they are a seriously strong (dirty) team they reminded me of a more subtle version of the old Wimbledon Fc of the early 90's at Ewood such is their resolve.

However it probably does us good we have to keep going after games to win them so no excuse for any complacency and setting out to tip toe thinking draws are ok.

[JHRover]

4 minutes ago, HowieFive0 said:

Wigan ..WDDWLL..hardly emphatic 

Last 3 games they've been away at Rovers, home v Scunthorpe and away at Bradford. 3 of the toughest games you'll get in this league. 

They came from 2-0 down to get a point at Rovers. They were trailing 3-2 and scored a last minute equaliser v Scunthorpe and a last minute winner v Bradford, picking up 4 points from seemingly lost causes and pegging us back a further 2 points. That's a big swing from last minute goals and fightbacks.

Think some people are/were getting ahead of themselves with this 'slump' of Wigan's. They've dipped slightly although had a tough few fixtures. 

We certainly cannot hope to rely on them nosediving. 

We need to focus on ourselves however and be going all out to win everywhere we go. No talk of decent draws.

I think we'll all feel a bit better however if Shrewsbury drop some points from their 2 in hand and put it back into our control. 

[Waggy76]

A long way to go !

[West Yorks Rover]

We need Bradley Dack to play out of skin on Saturday against his old team and hope Scunny can do us a favour against Shrewsbury.

[HowieFive0]

Just now, JHRover said:

Last 3 games they've been away at Rovers, home v Scunthorpe and away at Bradford. 3 of the toughest games you'll get in this league. 

They came from 2-0 down to get a point at Rovers. They were trailing 3-2 and scored a last minute equaliser v Scunthorpe and a last minute winner v Bradford, picking up 4 points from seemingly lost causes and pegging us back a further 2 points. That's a big swing from last minute goals and fightbacks.

Think some people are/were getting ahead of themselves with this 'slump' of Wigan's. They've dipped slightly although had a tough few fixtures. 

We certainly cannot hope to rely on them nosediving. 

We need to focus on ourselves however and be going all out to win everywhere we go. No talk of decent draws.

I think we'll all feel a bit better however if Shrewsbury drop some points from their 2 in hand and put it back into our control. 

Well lets put it this way ..if it was Rovers in the same position as Wigan recently the "The Mowbray out " poll would have gone off the richter scale .

[frosty]

4 minutes ago, Waggy76 said:

A long way to go !

Indeed, frustrating Wigan got the last minute winner but we're probably all going to drop unexpected points between now and the end of the season. Just hope we don't drop too many of course!

[Kamy100]

There will be a lot of twists and turns from now until the end of the season.  We just have to try and keep picking up points to put pressure on Wigan and Shrewsbury.

[blueboy3333]

21 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Last 3 games they've been away at Rovers, home v Scunthorpe and away at Bradford. 3 of the toughest games you'll get in this league. 

Give over. Rovers away is tough but the other two are near the bottom of the form table and have been in freefall since around Christmas. They've both won 1 in 10.

[JHRover]

Just now, blueboy3333 said:

Give over. Rovers away is tough but the other two are near the bottom of the form table and have been in freefall since around Christmas. They've both won 1 in 10.

Scunthorpe hard to beat. Only lost 9 all season. Bradford just outside play-offs and first home game under their new manager. Might be on poor runs but certainly in the top third of clubs in this poor league.

[dallydally]

That's so disappointing. I was following the score throughout the evening and for them to snatch it at the death was galling.  ???

[blueboy3333]

Just now, JHRover said:

Scunthorpe hard to beat. Only lost 9 all season. Bradford just outside play-offs and first home game under their new manager. Might be on poor runs but certainly in the top third of clubs in this poor league.

Two of the easiest matches Wigan could have hoped for and they only just won one of them.

[D-side17]

24 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Last 3 games they've been away at Rovers, home v Scunthorpe and away at Bradford. 3 of the toughest games you'll get in this league.

Three of the toughest games you’ll get in this league?

Rovers away, I’ll give you that one.

But prior to their draw against Wigan, Scunthorpe had won one of their previous 10 games (and that was against the free-falling Fleetwood).

As for Bradford, they are rooted to the foot of the form table having won 0, drawn 2 and lost 6 of their last eight games before tonight.

I do agree though that Wigan’s ability to scrape a win and two draws from those three games by coming back from behind and scoring late goals is admirable (and annoying).

[D-side17]

3 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

Give over. Rovers away is tough but the other two are near the bottom of the form table and have been in freefall since around Christmas. They've both won 1 in 10.

Beat me to it!

[JHRover]

Just now, D-side17 said:

Three of the toughest games you’ll get in this league?

Rovers away, I’ll give you that one.

But prior to their draw against Wigan, Scunthorpe had won one of their previous 10 games (and that was against the free-falling Fleetwood).

As for Bradford, they are rooted to the foot of the form table having won 0, drawn 2 and lost 6 of their last eight games before tonight.

I do agree though that Wigan’s ability to scrape a win and two draws from those three games by coming back from behind and scoring late goals is admirable (and annoying).

Scunthorpe have been in the top 6 all season. Only the top 3 have lost less games than they have. They got in the play-offs last season and probably will do again this season. So they are a tough opponent. They've lost the winning touch recently but haven't lost many.

Bradford are bottom of the form charts but despite that are still in there fighting for the play-offs. Got to the play-offs last season, been there abouts all this season, but perhaps most importantly haven't played for ages and was their first home game under their new manager. No sign of fatigue affecting Wigan against fresher opponents.

When I get time I'll analyse how many points Rovers, Wigan and Shrewsbury have picked up/lost in the last 10 minutes of games this season. Certainly feels like they've collected loads in the dying minutes whereas we rarely seem to do so.

[GreenRover]

Disappointing that Bradford didn't hang on. As far as I can see we are still top of the table and if we can keep doing the business every week we will stay top. No reason we can't go to Gillingham and get the win. As every week passes and we stay top the pressure builds on the other teams. We just have to focus on Gillingham and do everything in our power to get three points and if we do it there will be more doubt planted in the heads of the Shrewsbury and Wigan players. All eyes on our boys Saturday in Gillingham. COYB ????⚪️⚽️?